I tested Google's new Qi2 charging on my old charging pads; it's a total mess

Published Aug 26, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT I’ve been covering Android since 2023, when I joined Android Police, mostly focusing on AI and everything around Pixel and Galaxy phones. I’ve got a bachelor’s in IT with a major in AI, so I naturally view technology differently. I usually take a pro-consumer angle instead of the marketing hype, which you’ve probably noticed in my writing. Android users sat on the sidelines watching the MagSafe party happen. Qi2 was supposed to be the equalizer. The Wireless Power Consortium took Apple's magnetic latching tech, folded it into an open standard, and promised to make it work for everyone. When the Google Pixel 10 finally built in the magnets, it felt like a home run. But the honeymoon didn't last. You put your brand-new phone on the wireless charger you've had since the Pixel 6 days. Seven hours later, you wake up expecting a full charge but see 34%. Nothing's broken. The system is doing exactly what Google intended, and that's the problem. Why does your Pixel 10 suddenly charge like it's 2016? The Pixel is picky when it comes to power If you want to know why a 2025 flagship has trouble with a 2023 charger, we need to look at the three tiers of wireless power delivery. The Wireless Power Consortium sets these profiles to make sure devices talk safely about how much power they need. Profile Name Theoretical Speed Era Basic Power Profile (BPP) 5W Legacy Extended Power Profile (EPP) 10W–15W High-speed (2010–2023) Magnetic Power Profile (MPP) 15W–25W Qi2 (2023+) Ideally, a Qi2 phone and an EPP charger should agree on 12 or 15 watts. But the Pixel 10's execution is notoriously picky. When it meets a legacy EPP charger, the negotiation often fails. Instead of dropping to 10W or 12W, the phone falls back to the safer BPP speed of 5W. With battery capacities reaching 5,000mAh and background processes for AI and 5G constantly running, 5W is like trying to fill a swimming pool with a sink faucet. The Pixel 9 charging downgrade that no one warned you about The Pixel doesn't speak the charger's language The problem extends backward to users who haven't upgraded their phones. Many Pixel 9 owners, who saw the hype around Qi2 and wanted to prepare for the future, invested in new Qi2-certified charging. They expected that a Qi2 charger would, at the very least, match the speeds of their old pads. It doesn't. Because the Pixel 9 series uses the legacy EPP protocol, it runs into the same handshake failure. The new charger prioritizes the MPP protocol, and when the Pixel 9 can't speak that language, the charger drops to the 5W BPP profile. This fragmentation means you have to double-check the protocol version and whether your phone's controller plays nice with the charger's voltage settings. What should have made life easier has turned into a technical headache. In-car wireless charging is broken for Pixel 10 users It's because Android Auto is a resource hog Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police | illustration Vehicles / Shutterstock A slow charger on your nightstand is annoying. But the bigger issue is with cars. Over the past three years, automakers have made wireless charging pads standard in vehicles. These are not accessories you can easily swap out. They are integrated into the center consoles of $50,000 vehicles. Nearly all of these integrated car chargers use the older standard. When a Pixel 10 connects to a 2024 Tesla or BMW charging pad, the device defaults to the 5W fallback. Running wireless Android Auto is resource-intensive. The phone must simultaneously: Maintain a high-speed data connection Run GPS for real-time navigation Render maps twice (once for the phone and once for the car display) Stream audio If your car's charging pad maxes out at 5W, the phone burns more power than it gets. So, you go back to what wireless charging should have replaced. Wireless charging gets expensive fast There's no such thing as a free lunch Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police Google's marketing makes the transition to Qi2 sound like a free upgrade. It isn't. To get the experience Google advertised, you'll pay a tax. The existing 15W pads are now 5W pads. A certified Qi2 charger will cost you between $30 and $70. Next is the phone case. While the phone has internal magnets, a standard plastic or silicone case can interfere with the magnetic strength and the coil alignment. You are effectively pushed into buying a Pixelsnap-compatible case for $50. For a user who already has a charging setup at home, at the office, and in their car, the tax of the Pixel 10's wireless charging can exceed $100 on top of the $1,000 phone price. Qi2 turns working chargers into e-waste We don't need more junk in our tech drawers The mobile industry has long used environmentalism to cover cost-cutting. "We removed the charger to protect the planet," executives insist. Yet Google's Qi2 rollout is a clear case of hypocrisy. By throttling millions of existing chargers to unusable speeds, Google has turned mountains of usable plastic, copper, and circuit boards into e-waste. Loyal fans or guinea pigs? The Pixel 10's adoption of Qi2 should have been the final piece of the puzzle. But the execution is a failure. Google has failed to empathize with the user who drives a 2023 car. It has failed to empathize with the user who has a curated setup of stands and pads. It has failed to empathize with the user who cares about e-waste. The Pixel 10 is a fantastic phone in many ways, but its wireless charging is a disaster.